Apprentice of the Grey II
by joop-pa-pa96
Summary: The worst is over. Or so the company thinks. What will become of Aza and her new friends as they make their way to Erebor? How will they defeat the dragon Smaug? What will happen when they make their way through Mirkwood? Legolas/OC. Sequel to: Apprentice of the Grey I.
1. Chapter One: On the Run

_"You're holding the string too tightly," said the redheaded woman in the voice she used when she was teaching younger recruits. However, the one who was taking her instruction wasn't a recruit, but a friend. And this tone of voice was not helping the smaller woman at all. In fact, the tone only deepened her frustration._

_"I'm trying," Aza grumbled, "I just do not have the talent for weaponry that you do." She set the bow down after her arrow completely missed the target. It landed several yards short of the target and far too right. "I believe I shall stick to magic, it's far simpler." With that she sat down on the warm grass._

_The woman sat down next to her, "You don't have to learn the bow."_

_Aza looked at her new friend with big blue eyes that most swore could talk a troll from its lunch, "Bu-but, you look like you're having so much fun!" With that she fell backwards onto the ground, her hair attracting the attention of a few brightly colored bugs that made their new home in her hair. Her arm crossed over her face, blocking the bright sun from ruining her eyes._

_"We can try another weapon if you'd like."_

_"Really?" Aza asked, not moving from the grass. The sun felt nice on her skin. Her old robes had been taken from her._

_This had happened after she fainted one morning from the heat. She was then forced into the light, lovely clothing of the elves and was all the better for it. However, she did miss the pockets of her robes. It was impossible to place saplings in the clothes she wore now. Nor, likely, would the washers appreciate it._

_"Of course. A sword might be easier. Or perhaps we can put that staff of yours to use."_

_Aza sat up slowly and leaned on her elbows, "I'll give it a try."_

_"Come up," with that she was pulled up and thrust into a new tool of warfare._

* * *

The young apprentice to Gandalf the Grey, Azriela, fiddled with the strange ring on her ring finger as she sat and waited for the Hobbit to return from his small scouting mission.

Gandalf, who was too absorbed in keeping the company alive for another day, didn't notice his apprentice doing this. However, another character did. Fili approached the lovely woman and sat down next to her, "What's that?"

Azriela, or better known as Aza, stopped fingering the piece of jewelry, "Hmm?" She looked down at the ring, "This? It is a ring."

"May I?"

Aza, reluctantly, surrendered her hand and showed him the ring.

He examined it with the eye of a jeweler, "It is of Elvish make, is it not?"

"I believe so," Aza said withdrawing her hand from the dwarf's. Nervously she tugged her robe closer to her body.

It was then that Bilbo returned.

"How close is the pack?" Dwalin asked.

"Too close," he said, "A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it."

"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?"

"Not yet, but they will; we have another problem."

Gandalf rushed forward, "Did they see you? They saw you!"

"No, that's not it."

Gandalf smiled and turned to the company. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

Aza stood and walked over to Gandalf.

"Will you listen- Will you just listen? I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf asked.

"Ye.." He paused, "Y- yes. But bigger, much bigger."

Bofur asked Gandalf, "You knew about this beast?"

Gandalf turned and walked a few steps away.

"I say we double back." – Bofur.

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs." – Thorin.

Gandalf then said, "There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house?" Thorin asked, "Are they friend or foe?"

Aza looked to her mentor as he said, "Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us."

She gulped.

"What choice do we have?"

A roar shattered the calm before dawn.

"None, it would seem," Aza said.

Dawn began to break as the company ran across plains and streams. They ran all day, hiding behind trees and mounds of earth every so often to catch their breath before they'd run some more. They ran through the forest, Azog always seeming to be close at their heels.

"To the house! Run!" shouted Gandalf.

Everyone managed to get inside the gate. The orcs and whatever else was chasing them seemed to be far behind them then. The house's door was open and the dwarves flooded in. They only just managed to close the door before a bear like creature made for an attack on them.

"What is that?" Ori asked, almost out of breath.

"That," said Gandalf, "is our host."

The dwarves, Bilbo, and Aza turned to Gandalf in bewilderment.

"Host?" Aza breathed heavily.

"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer."

Aza's eyes widened. She'd only heard about skin-changers in books.

"Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."

"He's leaving!" said Ori as he peeked through a crack at the door.

Dori pulled him away from the door, "Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."

Aza was quick to the recite what she had learned, "He's under no spell. Skin-changers-." She then fell on a stack of hay and her eyes snapped shut, exhaustion taking over her instantly.

A few dwarves made shouts of surprise, thinking she had fainted.

"Aza!" said Fili running over to her and checking for signs of life.

"He's under no enchantment but his own." Gandalf finished Aza's thought. "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight. And don't worry, Fili, she is quite alive. The day's activities have just caught up with her. She'll be right as rain in the morning."


	2. Chapter Two: Beorn the Skin-Changer

_"And you use this," Aza held another odd looking plant in the face of her friend, "for bug bites. It makes it stop itching. Here." She handed the weed to her friend. "Make sure that you break the leaf and let the juice settle there."_

_She nodded and did as she was instructed. "It's working."_

_Aza smiled, "Good."_

_"You know much about plants."_

_"Yes, I have to. I want to spend the rest of my life in a forest as thick as this, though maybe not as infested," Aza mused._

_"What of friends?"_

_"Friends?"_

_"You could get quite lonely, living deep in the forest."_

_"I suppose they could come to visit me," Aza shrugged. "Or I to them, but I can't see anyone truly wanting to spend their life in such conditions."_

_Her friend handed her what was left of the weed, "Well then. When you are fully trained I shall visit."_

_Aza nodded, "That sounds lovely."_

_"You and your husband," the redhead teased, "and your twenty children."_

_"That sounds…Ahhhh!" Aza let out a cry of embarrassment as she realized what her friend had been hinting to._

* * *

In the wee hours of the morning, before any of the company awoke, Aza felt sweat pour down her brow. Although she never woke. Dark speech, the language of orcs and Mordor burned in her mind. It filled her ears and made her body quiver in fear. Whatever it was, it was new and it close.

"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,

ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul."

**[One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,**

**One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.]**

She tried to open her mouth to call for help, but she was frozen in place. Suck between consciousness and the dream realm.

Her eyes finally snapped open and she sat up. She saw a huge man like creature walking around, preparing breakfast. She looked around and realized what she had smelled all night. It was the accumulation of thirteen dwarves and their various smells. Aza looked to her left and saw Fili, mouth open and snoring loudly and then turned her head to see Kili to her right. She smiled and closed her eyes; the unknown danger was nowhere to be seen.

Slowly she drifted back to the bliss of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Bilbo…" Aza whispered hours later after she and the other dwarves had woken. She was crouched in front of the hobbit, waiting for him to wake up. Gently she prodded his nose with her staff. "Bilbo Baggins…wake up…"

Bilbo's eyes opened slowly, "Hmm?"

"Good morning," she bade him, "it is time to get up." She straightened and moved to the table where dwarves and wizard ate nosily.

Fili waved her over and she sat down next to him, "I saved you some eggs."

Aza thanked him and ate.

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield." Beorn, the skin changer, said as he poured some milk, "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog?" Thorin asked, "How?"

My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked.

"Once, there were many."

"And now?"

"Now, there is only one."

There was silence. Aza stared at her plate, still full of food. Kili reached over to try and steal a hotcake, "Oi," she whispered and slapped his hand away.

He chuckled and went back to eating his own food.

Beorn asked, "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?"

"Before Durin's Day falls," said Gandalf, "yes."

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

Aza dropped one of her forks and it fell to the floor. However, before it made a noise, she had gotten up and managed to trip over the bench in an attempt to run. From her place on the floor she called, "I'm alright!"

She slowly got up, her pride only slightly bruised, and sat in her chair.

"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."

Gandalf said, "We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe."

"Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin asked.

"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive."

Aza squirmed in her seat. He was right; this journey would be quite difficult.

"I don't like dwarves." Beorn continued. "They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." Beorn picked up a mouse that had been running about, eating crumbs that had fallen on the wood, "But Orcs I hate more. What do you need?"

They were shown out to where the ponies roamed free in the sort of court yard. Aza took one look at the small beasts and something inside her snapped. She promptly turned green and made a run for it in the other direction.


	3. Chapter Three: Lost

_The two girls sat under a tree, enjoying one of the brief times the redhead had off. Aza was preoccupied with a vine that was making its home on the tree, telling it (with words) that it was killing the beautiful tree. "Now, now, why don't I find you a different place…," she whispered to the vine as if it could understand her. "At this rate you're going to suck all the life out of this old thing, why don't you try, oh!"_

_Her friend sat up quickly as Aza made a noise of surprise. The vines had woven themselves into her hair, creating a sort of trellis out of locks of brown hair. It made for an odd look, this woman with vines and leaves woven throughout her tresses. Her friend chuckled._

_"It could have just asked," Aza said as if someone had brushed into her without an apology._

_"It suits you," her friend said. "Green hair for the green lady."_

_"I'm not a green lady," Aza argued._

_Her friend shot back with, "You know more about plants than the palace gardeners and the healers combined." _

_Aza settled down on the soft moss that grew around the tree's exposed roots. _

_Aza couldn't argue with truth._

_"Ladies."_

_The "green lady's" head snapped to the origin of the noise. She smiled as the male made his place next to her. "Hello," Aza said, fiddling with a strand of hair. Her cheeks had filled with color and she was finding it hard to look him in the eyes._

_"Hello," his voice was soft and betrayed a hint of bashfulness as well._

_With a sly grin Aza's friend asked, "Should I be leaving?"_

_"No!" both quickly said._

* * *

Needless to say, Aza was captured before she could get anywhere. She protested profusely, but in the end was forced onto a pony behind Fili, who had volunteered. She buried her face in his back as the animal bucked and seemed keen (in her mind at least) to throw her off. Aza mumbled nonsense into the material of Fili's shirt as she felt more and more tempted to throw herself off the horse and face, not only many bruises but, a horde of orcs that chased them over hills and fields.

"The Elven Gate." Gandalf said and called out to the others, "Here lies our path through Mirkwood."

Aza froze and slowly removed her face from Fili's back.

"Are you well?" asked the dwarf in question. Aza made small noise of affirmation before dismounting and slowly making her way to the archway.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master," ordered Gandalf.

"Yes," Aza accidentally let out and mumbled a "sorry" before moving forward, but being careful not to get too close to the entrance.

"This forest feels...sick, as if a disease lies upon it," said Bilbo. "Is there no way around?"

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south," said Gandalf as Bilbo got closer. With that Gandalf walked forward, further into the woods, leaving Bilbo and Aza behind.

Aza turned her head and asked Bilbo, "Sick you said?"

Bilbo looked up at her, thought for a second on what she meant, and nodded, "Yes."

"Then we are of the same mind," Aza turned her line of vision so that she saw her mentor. Without looking at Bilbo she said, "The last time I was here it was just as bad. I had tried, on my own, to mend what could not be mended by a single person." Aza reached up and clutched her temple roughly as her mind was assaulted by dark words in a tongue she could not understand. "Ah…"

Bilbo pulled his hand out of his pocket as he realized the young woman was in pain, "Are you alright?"

Aza nodded, "Just a slight head ache, nothing to be too concerned about."

"Not my horse! I need it," Gandalf called backtracking. He brushed past Bilbo and Aza, Aza left her place in front of the woods to follow him with Bilbo close at her heels.

"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asked.

He stopped. "I would not do this unless I had to."

Gandalf looked to Thorin and then to Bilbo, "You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire."

"I was going to tell you; I...found something in the Goblin tunnels."

"Found what?" Gandalf asked, sounding slightly suspicious. "What did you find?"

"My courage."

"Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it." He turned and began

Gandalf turned and began walking back to his horse. He then said to Thorin, "I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me. This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."

He got on his horse.

"You're leaving me with them?" Aza asked, a little unsure about being left unsupervised.

Gandalf looked down his nose at her, "Would you like to ride with me, my young student?"

Aza looked from Gandalf and into the black eyes of the horse, "No, I'm fine." She then turned on her heel and marched away without so much as a farewell to her master.

"You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again. No matter what may come, stay on the path!" Gandalf warned the company and rode off.

The Company made their way to the forest, Thorin urging them along, "Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day."

Once the entered Mirkwood, however, they soon lost sight of the path. Even Aza, who had walked these woods before could not tell them which was to go. Let alone how to return to the path.

Soon Aza began to feel something all too familiar. She had felt it before, when she had first lost her way in these woods. It was delirium. Her mind clouded as she could no longer feel life in the forest, or at least no good life. It was as if she was drunk. She moved, but without consent of her mind. Everything said around her was as if her eardrums had been subjected to cannon fire.

"I don't remember this place before. None of it's familiar." –Balin.

"It's got to be here." –Dori.

"What hour is it?" –Thorin.

"I do not know. I don't even know what day it is." –Dwalin.

"Is there no end to this accursed place?" –Thorin.

Aza looked around herself, her mind wouldn't clear. It was then that she collapsed. No one bothered to wake her up. It was as if she were invisible.


	4. Chapter Four: Spiders

_"Freeze!" a cold and hard, but still feminine, voice ordered._

_Aza put her arms up instantly, her staff still clutched in her right hand. The long and loose sleeves of her robe fell to her elbows and sagged there. The robe was far too big for her, but it suited her in a way that couldn't be explained with words. She just seemed made for that brown mess of fur, like a snake seems so good in its skin._

_"Don't move."_

_"Not moving."_

_"Turn around, slowly."_

_Aza did as she was told and was greeted by the sight of a very stern red headed elf. "H-hello. I have got to stop meeting people like this; I'm going to get a reputation." She joked, still rather uncomfortable with her arms raised high along with her staff._

_The woman, sword still drawn, approached her, "You are the green woman brought back from the woods, the wizard's apprentice. Why are you running away?"_

_"I'm not actually running away," Aza interjected. "I went for a walk outside the walls, to take a better look at the forest…and got lost." She looked around. "Very, very lost." Aza looked back at the female elf. "I'm telling the truth."_

_Slowly, she lowered her weapon. "A green lady, lost in a forest?"_

_Biting her lip she said, "It's a sick forest. And I'm not a green lady." Shifting her feet nervously, she asked, "Could I put my arms down now?"_

_The red head smiled and nodded. "Though I never did ask you to raise them."_

_Aza shrugged, "I did have to show you I wasn't armed." She moved to her, "We haven't been properly introduced. I am Azriela."_

_She woman nodded, "I have heard of you. You make plant life move as though it were animal." She paused. "I am Captain of the Guard, Tauriel. It is a pleasure to meet you."_

_"It is a pleasure to meet you as well."_

_"Shall I escort you back to the grounds?"_

_Aza nodded, "Thank you."_

* * *

Blue eyes fluttered open; while she was asleep someone had found her. It took a few moments for her to realize what had happened. She had been told of spiders that had made their home in Mirkwood. And not just any normal house spiders either. They were giant spiders, about as big as a dwarf or hobbit.

She couldn't move. However, the venom was wearing off as the drowsiness was beginning to fade and she could think clearer. As she began to realize the use of her limbs again, she noticed another thing hindering her movement. She was wrapped up in spider silk.

If she could, she would have gulped at that thought. She had seen normal sized spiders attack, prepare, and eat their prey. She never thought that she would be in the position of the poor insect. For a moment she felt guilty for not freeing the bugs that had flown into the spider's web.

She heard a rustling above her and then she fell through the air.

Aza could give no noise of terror as she fell to the ground. Still wrapped up in spider silk, she began to struggle. Almost as soon as the noise got louder, a sharp object pierced through the silk of her prison and she let in a deep breath of fresh air.

Fili stood over her and helped her clear the white web from her eyes. "Are you well?"

"Fine," she coughed out. "My staff…" she looked around wildly. "My staff…" she knelt and began to search the dead leaves for her weapon.

Around her the dwarves were fighting off the spiders. The beasts were none too happy that their meal was getting away. They hissed and snapped their pincers at the dwarves.

"Aza!" Fili cried and managed to stab a spider before it got to her.

Aza, however, had no time to thank him as she searched for her staff. It was then that she saw a greenish warm light to her left. It was calling to her. She stood and ran to it, picking up the long wooden stick she gave a laugh.

She pulled her hood up to keep her head protected and groaned.

In an instant she was in trouble again as two large spiders descended upon her. She hit them quite hard with the end of her staff and ran back to join the others. She and Fili ran through the woods, not caring about the noise they made.

A spider jumped out in front of them and Thorin, who had been leading the company in the fight, froze. The spider dead at his feet. Aza wondered at this, but soon ceased to as she saw a small figure elegantly moving in the distance. An elf. A male elf.

He moved, killing the spiders as he went.

He slid down the trees quickly and nocked his bow, an arrow aimed straight at them.

He was blonde and quite beautiful, as all elves are.

In the past, when she first met elves, Aza laughed at the sight of elves. Her first exposure to males had been at the hands of some rugged looking villagers and that was what she expected males to look like. Bearded, tanned complexion, heavy features. The sight of the slightly comical looking elves in such a serious situation was hard for her to resist. Even now that she had more experience with the beings, she still found that there was still that part of her left over from her first encounter that reacted with uncontrollable laughter.

Needless to say, it took days before Aza got over her initial embarrassment of laughing at the sight of such kind and powerful people as Elrond and Galadriel.

Aza looked around her; they were surrounded by elves bearing arrows.

It was then that Aza realized what she and the company had gotten themselves into in entering this forest. Not only because of the threat of the spiders, not because of the threat of the maddening forest, but because of the elves that lived in the forest.

"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure."


	5. Chapter Five: We Meet Again

Aza tried to make herself very small, pulling her hood further down her face she moved around slowly so that she was never the center of attention. She knew that she couldn't keep her identity hidden forever, but later was better than sooner. At least, that was what she thought. She needed more time, perhaps, to figure out what she would say.

A cry for help came from beyond the group.

She and Fili turned.

It was Kili, he was being attacked by a spider. And his weapons had been taken by the elves.

"Kili!" Fili shouted.

Aza raised her staff and prepared to help the dark haired dwarf, but as she and the other dwarves made a move to help him were held back by the elf soldiers.

However a red haired elf woman swept in and slew the spider. As she fought of some others, Aza could hear them arguing over weapons. She almost smiled; Tauriel was just as distrustful as ever.

After the threat had passed she brought him back to the group. Aza kept her head down and tried to shy away from the attention of the leaders. Luck, however, was not on her side that day as the blonde elf who had first aimed an arrow at them ordered.

"Search them."

The elves approached them and started to search their valuables.

One large, brown haired elf walked over to Aza and made a grab her satchel. Amazingly it was still intact and all its contents were safe after all of their troubles. Aza, being as stubborn as she was, refused to give up the bag so easily.

"Give it here," he ordered.

"Let go, I have nothing you'd want," she growled. "I'm not even armed!" She struck his legs with her staff and he backed away in order to avoid the brunt of the blow.

It took two move elves to restrain her so that the first one could take her bag. "Let go!"

Another held her staff.

"Don't look through that!" she ordered as he opened a small book that kept a few precious letters from getting crumpled and crinkles. He took one out and began to read it. "That's privet information!" her voice carried throughout the clearing.

"A love letter," he scorned, "who would write you a love letter?" He threw both the book and letter back into her back and searched through the contents. Vials of herbs and potions, a few low value coins, and a rag were in her bag; he took each one out and inspected it as if it could be a potential weapon.

"Can I have my things back now?" she asked as politely as she could.

He shook his head and continued to root through her belongings. Aza swore she heard one of the viles break as he took out herbs and medicine she had prepared months ago before they had left on this quest. The elf took things out of her bag and, if they weren't interesting or looked useless, dropped them on the ground.

"Enwenno hain!" **[Take them!]**

Aza began to struggle violently at this. She kicked and moved her arms wildly, "Let go!"

"And what do we have here? A woman traveling with dwarves?"

It was him.

Aza's head sunk as low as it could go, trying to obscure her face. The only thing that kept her body erect was the two guards that held her arms, restraining her from grabbing her bag back.

A hand reached forward and moved her hood back, releasing her hair and revealing her face. She looked into his eyes. Blue into blue.

"Aza…" she could just hear him whisper.

Giving a shy smile she tried to right herself in her hold of her captors.

"Release her," he ordered and they did so, albeit a tad reluctantly. Legolas looked at the guards who held her things. "Return to her, her belongings."

The elf who had her bag handed it back. Aza sighed, those viles of medicine were hard to replace. Not only the medicine, but the viles themselves took a while for her to acquire.

The other elf, who held her staff, thrust us back into her hands.

Legolas then ordered them to wrangle the dwarves and lead them forward.

They were alone.

"You're back."

She nodded. "Yes."

He took her left hand in his and brought it to his mouth, gently he placed a kiss on the knuckles. His grip was so tight; Aza thought that he was trying to break her hand.

"I'm sorry I took so long," she murmured.

Legolas rubbed his thumb against her ring finger and then over the ring's stone. He placed the hand on his heart and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched. "You have returned to me."

"Yes," Aza whispered, the words slipping from her lips without her consent.

"I have missed you, Melda heri," he said, his voice becoming tender. **[Beloved lady]**

Aza blushed as her mind translated the words into common tongue. "I am no lady."

He chuckled, "You are my lady. My green lady…" He kissed her cheek lightly.

"If I must be a lady," Aza felt some form of lightheadedness come upon her as she responded with, "then you must be my lord."

"As my lady wishes," he kissed her on the lips, his own lips touching them gently.

She blushed.

Aza was glad for their isolation. She didn't think she could bare it if the others were watching their exchange.

After a few moments of silence, they parted and he led her back to the Woodland Realm. Legolas kept his arm around her waist as they walked. Every so often he would pull her closer to himself and speak into her ear, making her gin and forget her predicament.

But then they would be silence and Aza could feel her companion's eyes on her as they walked. She couldn't speak to them, not now, not with all of the sharp elf ears that surrounded them. Besides, with the way Thorin was looking at her, she doubted that they would listen. Well maybe Fili would, but certainly not Thorin. His absolute dislike of elves would not be hindered by his small acceptance of the apprentice.

After they had passed through the gate, Legolas ordered, "Holo in ennyn." **[Close the gate.]**


	6. Chapter Six: Mirkwood

Aza, though her place was not there, was led down into the dungeon and watched as the dwarves were imprisoned. Legolas had insisted she stay by his side, or at least close enough to keep an eye on. Still, she had no opportunity to talk with the angered dwarves.

_"Bilbo…"_ she looked around for the hobbit. He wasn't among the prisoners. Part of her worried for such a small and gentle creature to be lost in the darkness of the forest, but she knew that Bilbo, as he had proven time and time again, was not at all how he appeared. He was far more capable than they knew.

An elf shoved Fili into a shell, but he fore he left him he drew out a dagger that had been hidden. Fili let out a sigh of frustration and looked over at Aza as she stood next to Legolas. The handsome elf's arm was around her waist and it seemed he held her in place.

"Aren't you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers."

"Or nothing."

Aza laughed inwardly. Ah, how quick-witted her red haired friend was.

Tauriel slammed the cell door shut and walked to them.

Legolas leaned to her ear and whispered, "I Nogoth amman e tîr gin, Azriela?" **[Why does the Dwarf stare at you, Azriela?]**

"Ya dern?" **[Which dwarf?]**

However, Legolas continued to glare daggers at Fili and he watched them interact. Fili caught Legolas's eye and glared at him.

Tauriel joined them. "Shall I take her to her room?"

He nodded. With a strong arm he pulled her closer and gave her a kiss on the forehead before handing her off to Tauriel.

"E orchal be Nogoth," Aza said as she noticed her friend's eyes linger on Kili's cell. **[He's quite tall for a Dwarf.]**

Tauriel nodded and they walked together.

"You leave for months and return in the company of dwarves," Tauriel finally said. "You must have some interesting reason."

"I do."

"I'll be glad to hear it."

Aza used her staff to climb the stairs, already she felt the weariness of the day catch up with her. "And you will hear it. Soon."

Tauriel gave her friend a look. "There is something you're not telling me."

She nodded.

"And you refuse to tell me."

She nodded.

* * *

Aza sat in a grand waiting room. Her hair had been cleaned and was now pulled back and up so that it no longer trailed on the floor. Her robes had been taken from her and instead she was dressed in an elegant green dress. Her arm guards had been removed and placed along with the rest of her belongings. The only thing that she insisted upon keeping on her person was her staff.

She sat in the shadows of the room. Waiting. For what she didn't know. Legolas was nowhere to be found and Tauriel was far too busy with her job to worry about entertaining her friend all day.

Aza closed her eyes and she swore she could feel something. Her brow furrowed as she tried to concentrate. The trees all around her were speaking to her, showing her something. But she just couldn't-

"I know you're there. Why do you linger in the shadows?"

Aza's eyes snapped open. She stood. "I was not hiding." She leaned against her staff.

The king of the Woodland Realm sat down in another seat and gestured that she was permitted to do the same. Aza obeyed and sat, making sure her dress was not wrinkled as she did so. "You have returned." He looked lazily at her hand. "And you wear my son's ring."

Aza flexed her hand. "Yes."

"Since you left, all Legolas could speak on was your return." He stared at the roots of the trees that created the room, as if they were far more interesting. "Now you have returned.," His head slowly turned to her, "and in the company of dwarves."

"It's a long story, sire."

"And I wish to hear it. Now," Thranduil narrowed his eyes at her.

Taking a deep breath, Aza replied, "I take it you have tried to interrogate Thorin?"

He nodded.

"If he hasn't given you the answers you seek, then I believe it would be unwise for me to do so. I cannot betray a trust."

Although Aza could see the frustration and borderline anger in his eyes, the king said, "Yes, you would not betray a secret such as that." He eased back in his seat and Aza felt the breath, she did not know she was holding, release. Lazily changing the subject, he asked, "When will the ceremony be?"

"C-ceremony?"

"Surely you have returned to wed," he laced his fingers.

"I…"

He sighed. "I believe we have had this discussion before. I will not see my son led to ruin because of a woman who could not make up her mind."

"I am not rejecting him."

"Good." He stood. "For you see. He plans the celebration as we speak."

Aza rose quickly. "Now?" She practically squeaked.

He nodded, he held out his arm as if to embrace her. "I welcome you to our family, daughter." It was genuine. His expression. His tone. It was all sincere. He meant it. He wanted this to happen. "I look forward seeing the happiness this will bring. Come." He gestured for her to follow him. "I will take you to your betrothed."

Thranduil led Aza to where Legolas seemed to be issuing orders to a number of servants. The aloof king and Aza watched as each servant left with his or her orders. He looked down his nose at Aza. He then said, in his monotone voice, "I'll leave you to plan." His robe swirled around him, elegantly, as he turned and walked away.

Aza approached Legolas cautiously. After the last servant had left Legolas turned to her. He took her hands in his. "Three days."

"Hmm?" Aza hummed, preoccupied with how nice his skin felt against hers.

"Till we wed," he finished. "In three days time we will be married."

The young woman felt her eyes go wide. "Married?"

He nodded, "I thought we would waste no time."

"I don't know what to say."


	7. Chapter Seven: Day One: Talk

That evening Aza sat at the table with Legolas. Thranduil had told them he had other tasks to adhere to, but Aza speculated that he just wanted to give them time alone. She knew that it wasn't to sabotage their upcoming nuptials, if he didn't want it to happen he wouldn't have been so sneaky about it.

The dinner itself was delicious, especially after Aza had been having nothing but travel food.

Slowly, Aza raised her glass to her lips and took a sip.

The silence was unbearable to both parties.

The young woman heard a fly buzz somewhere far off.

Aza couldn't help but think that that insect was lucky. It was there, but it wasn't a part of anything. It was just going about its usual business. She had to sit there and try to think of something to say to her fiancé.

Her shoes were beginning to bite into her feet. She wasn't used to them being restricted and cut off from the earth. It was like she was a Hobbit, only Hobbits are never forced into shoes.

"How long will the dwarves be held?" Aza finally asked, setting her glass down on the table. She had to know. Time was running out for them. If they didn't hurry, Durin's Day would pass and they would never find entry into the mountain. They might have to wait a whole year to try again. Aza wasn't sure what that would entail.

It took a few seconds for Legolas to answer her. "As long as the leader continues to be obstinate, my father will have no choice but to keep them here." He stared at her. "What were you doing in their company?"

"Gandalf ordered me to their side until his return," Aza answered quietly.

Silence.

"So returning to me was not your intent."

"I was planning on it, when my task was complete." She looked him straight in the eye. "I was going to come back to you."

He rose from his seat and walked the length of the table to her. Extending his hand he silently asked her to join him. Aza moved her seat back and stood, taking his hand.

They walked from their unfinished dinner. Her hands clung to the crook of his arm.

"I missed you during those months," Aza whispered. "I thought about you almost every day."

"And I you." He led her outside into the sharp night air. Heavenly voices reached them. Legolas turned and whispered into her ear, "My green lady."

Aza sighed. "I'm not a lady."

He chuckled, "You're _my _lady…" Leaning in he kissed her soft brown hair.

"L-Legolas," she blushed as he continued to show affection to her. She didn't know why she was so embarrassed, they were alone in the garden. _"Oh right…"_ she thought. They were alone in the garden, together, in each other's arms.

He stopped and pulled back to look her in the eye. Their blue eyes were gazing into the others. Here it came. The moment where she would have to break his heart. "Legolas, I don't think we should marry. At least not in three days, at least."

He withdrew from her. "Why?"

She bit her lip, "It's too soon. I've just gotten back and I haven't finished the task Gandalf has given me. I still need to accompany the dwarv-."

"You do not wish to marry me because of dwarves?"

"Yes! No…wait," this answer sent Aza into a state of verbal vomit. "I love you, but I can't marry you. I mean I want to marry you, but I have to take care of the dwarves. My master told me-."

Legolas's blue eyes narrowed at this. His handsome features twisted in his jealousy. "Dwarves. It is that dwarf, isn't it?" he spat.

This caught her off guard. "Which dwarf? There are thirteen of them."

"The bearded one."

Aza raised an incredulous eyebrow. "That hardly narrows it down."

"It was the younger, light haired one, the one that was staring at you."

"Fili?" Aza thought about it and realized her ignorance and innocence. Fili had developed some sort of feelings for her, other than friendship. And Legolas had noticed it. "I don't have feelings for him." She took his hand in hers and raised it between them. "Not in that way in any case. I only have those feelings for you." Gently she touched his chin, guiding his eyes to hers. "Legolas," she breathed his name, "only you have my heart."

He sighed contentedly and placed his hand on hers. "As you have mine, guren." **[my heart]**

They were silent for a long time, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Then there is nothing keeping us from each other." Giving her a ghost of a kiss on the cheek he murmured, "We will marry in two days." He leaned forward and captured her lips with his. "Le melin, hiril vuin." **[I love you, my beloved lady.]**

After that, Aza found it hard to argue with him. With his lips on hers, she lost all sense of focus and direction. She wasn't sure how or why he had this effect on her, but he did.

The worst part was that she had changed nothing. Now her moment of braveness and reason was gone, and she was still set to marry in two days, the dwarves were still in the dungeon, and somewhere Bilbo was still missing.


	8. Chapter Eight: Day Two: Bilbo

The morning of the second day Aza was forced from her room and into to the hands of seamstresses. They poked and prodded her with needles as they forced her into an elegant blue-white dress. All the while Aza didn't know what to think. She didn't know how to feel.

All she could do was stare at herself in the full length mirror. Her dress was beautiful. But she didn't feel right in it. As though it was inappropriate for the time.

She loved him, but there was something not right. It could have been the timing of it all. It could be that she was in the middle of a mission. Maybe she wasn't ready yet.

_"I love him,"_ she thought as a pin poked her side. "Ah!"

"Sorry miss," one of the seamstresses said.

Aza gave a small smile and returned to her thoughts. _"Love…is that a good enough reason to be married?"_ She thought back to their dinner last night. Even though Aza said that she didn't want to marry yet, he still pushed through with the plans.

"We're almost done," another female elf said.

The dress was becoming more and more heavy as time went on, to the point where it felt like a full body chain. As soon as it was removed from her, she felt ten times lighter. And once she was out of that room and roaming the corridors again, she felt a sense of relief.

She wandered around until she found her way to the place the prisoners were being held. "Thorin," she called in a hushed voice.

He didn't come to the door.

Knocking on the wood quietly, she called again, "Thorin."

He refused to answer.

_"Now I know why Gandalf said 'save me from the stubbornness of dwarfs'. He won't even let me explain. He's sulking like a child,"_ she cursed him in her head. Moving she found Fili's cell. "Fili."

Imminently he moved to the bars. "Aza?"

She smiled, "Are you and the company well?"

"And you?" he nodded.

"Fine." She looked about, "Have you seen Bilbo?"

"No. I'm afraid he's lost forever."

Aza buried her face in her hands. "And I have failed. Not only have I lost our burglar, but now you are trapped her as well. I am a failure as a wizard." She sunk to the step and leaned against the wall next to the bars.

Fili knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll still escape. We just need-."

"By the time we find a way," Aza interrupted, "I'll be trapped here forever."

Silence.

"In what sense."

"Tomorrow I am to be married," Aza fiddled with the ring on her finger.

"Married?" he withdrew his hand and gazed at her hands.

She nodded. "I don't know what to do?"

"You…love him?"

She nodded unaware that her confession was letting his hopes down.

"And he loves you?"

"He says as much."

Fili sat down next to her, he back against the bars. "I congratulate you." His voice sounded hollow.

Aza looked at her hand. _"I wish it was that simple."_

Silence.

The yellow-haired dwarf noticed the tone of the silence."You do not seem happy."

"I'm…confused."

He moved quickly closer to her, "In what way?"

Aza turned and looked him in the eyes, "I don't think that I am ready. There is something missing. I just feel so strongly-."

"Feel?"

She nodded.

Fili shook his head, "Love isn't a feeling. I don't speak from personal experience, but from what I have seen. Feelings fade and change. True love lies in actions. Self-sacrifice, kindness, understanding, respect, these are all things that make up love."

"But aren't feelings important? If I don't love him then…" she trailed off.

"Feelings are important, but they aren't forever. Love is more than a feeling," his voice took on a dreamlike tone, "It's something you show with actions rather than words."

"Thank you," Aza said, processing what he said. She stood. "If you'll excuse me, I have something I need to do."

He watched her as she left. Not sure whether he had just helped himself or the elf.

Aza all but ran down the corridors and passage ways. She was so determined to get where she was going that she ran into something. Surprisingly she fell back on her rear and looked up to see Bilbo standing right before her eyes.

"Bilbo!" her voice rose as she shouted in surprise.

"Shhh!" he raised a finger to his lips.

"Bilbo!" she repeated in a lower tone, but kept the same enthusiasm. Aza stood and ran over to him, "You brilliant Hobbit! Where have you been?"

She pulled away.

He seemed to be out of breath, "Looking for a way out. I seem to have found one and-."

A voice, from down the hall, called to her, "Aza?"

She turned back to Bilbo, "Good, you and the others leave now. Do you understand? I'll find my own way and will meet you there."

"But-."

"Go quickly!" she pushed him along then turned and walked to the source of the voice. She straightened her gown and tried to act as though she hadn't just been speaking with a Hobbit. "Yes?"

"There you are," Legolas's face was bright, although there seemed to be a darkness in it. "I was looking for you."

Aza smiled, "Here I am."

He offered her his arm and they walked down the hallway and out into the gardens. They were silent for a long while.

"Aza," Legoals finally said, "I know you're hiding something."

"N-No I'm not."

"Yes you are." He took a step closer, "I saw you."

Aza felt her body freeze, "You _saw_ me?"

He nodded and took another step closer to her. "You were speaking to him."

Her toes curled in her uncomfortable shoes and her nails dug into her palm, leaving small crescent shaped marks, "About what?"

"Love."

"Love?" All the tension that had been building in her suddenly released.

"That dwarf."

"You mean Fili? Legolas, we're friends. He gave me some good advice." Aza stole herself. Taking a deep breath she started to say, "Which is what I wanted to talk to you about. I think that-."

An elf approached them at a run, interrupting Aza, "Your highness, the prisoners are escaping!"


	9. Chapter Nine: Run Away Bride

Aza paced up and down the length of her room, impatiently waiting. She was sure that, eventually, she would wear a hole in the floor. After the news had come of the dwarves' escape from the dungeons, Legolas had left her to the care of the elf that had been sent to fetch him. He had instructed the stranger to escort her to her room and, under his breath, to lock her inside.

She didn't know why. Maybe he was afraid she would try and leave with the dwarves. Perhaps he feared that his father would implicate her in the dwarves' escape. She didn't know, but she certainly knew she didn't appreciate it. It was true that she did play a small part in their escape, making sure that Bilbo was not discovered. And it was true that she was going to try and leave with them.

After a few hours of waiting, Aza was anxious. She didn't know if the dwarves and the hobbit had made it alive. The surrounding plants had been telling her of movement and noise near the river. The greenery whispered about the actions of "short breathers" (dwarves and the hobbit) in "dry and dead brothers" (barrels).

**_"They have brought one back, a killer of all."_**

"Orcs," Aza murmured and moved to the door and attempted to open it. Orcs had little regard for life in general. So when it came to the beautiful flowers and trees that grew, the Orcs cared not if the whole forest would burn so long as they got what they wanted. Their disregard for plant-life disgusted Aza almost as much as their disregard for the life of moving creatures such as Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Hobbits.

She smiled and remembered a trick she had used in the first days of her life. Back when Saruman tried to lock her in her room to keep her behaved, Aza had found something interesting her little green friends could do. Removing all of her fine elvish things, she then dawned her old brown and grimy clothing and packed her bag with all her things. Taking her staff in hand she reached in her pocked and produced a small seedling.

Raising it up to the lock on the door she asked, nicely, to pick it for her. Once the happy little green thing was done, she gave it a little boost of energy so that it began to grow quickly. Soon it would be a nice sapling growing out of the door.

"Thank you," she whispered to the plant. She could feel a childlike joy radiating from the little seedling. She then walked out.

Elves ignored her as she made her way through the city. They were too preoccupied with preparations for her wedding that they didn't even recognize her.

"Aza!"

Aza turned to see her red-headed friend approaching her at top speed. "Tauriel, what is it?"

"It's Kili, he's been shot with a black arrow."

"He…" her eyes widened. She realized something. "So, they didn't escape?"

Tauriel shook her head. "They did." Taking a deep breath she said, "Aza, I have to help him. If the wound is left untreated…" she trailed off, her mind wandering to the possibility of a horrible death for the dark haired dwarf.

Aza nodded, "_We_ have to. There is still time before they close the gate. We need to hurry."

The two friends approached the gate.

Unfortunately, one of the guards recognized Aza.

"Where are you taking the Prince's fiancé?"

Tauriel held onto Aza's arm, "I was just taking her for a small walk outside the walls. Just for a few minutes."

The guards seem suspicious.

"The trees," Aza said, realizing she needed to pipe up. "I want to see the trees."

The guards nodded and allowed them to leave. On her last visit, she had insisted upon seeing the plant life outside the city walls. It had even come to a point where the guards didn't bother to stop her, she would come and go as she pleased, all the while chatting with a companion about the state of the forest or some other matter.

Once they were out of sight of the gate and the guards, Aza and Tauriel broke out into a run.

"It won't be long," Aza said, "until Legolas notices our absence. We must hurry before he or anyone else has the chance to catch up with us."

"Look at you," Tauriel gave a small smile, which was large considering the circumstances. "Running away from your own wedding, leaving the prince himself at the alter. People will talk."

Aza picked up her robe like she would a dress and shouted back. She gave an almost playful sigh, "Oh, let them!"

* * *

"Holo in ennyn! Tiro i defnin hain na ganed en-Aran," Legolas called. His mind kept going back to Aza, it wasn't possible that she had planned this. As the dwarves were escaping she was with him. He had told as much to his father, he had defended her to him. His father seemed to believe it. But even now, Legolas was doubting his own words. [**Close the gate! Keep it sealed by order of the King.**]

He turned to walk away, still thinking

"Man os Tauriel and in aranel?" [**What about Tauriel and the princess?]**

He froze, afraid of the answer. Without turning he asked, "Man os ti?" [**What about them?]**

"Lto eb enedhor, Taruiel na gû a megil. Lto ú-nandollen." [**They went into the forest, Tauriel armed with her bow and blade. They have not returned**.]

Legolas looked into the woods with longing.

His wife-to-be and his friend had abandoned him, and in favor of the dwarves. He left through the gate. If he would bring them back, make them see reason. He hoped his father would be forgiving to Tauriel and allow her to stay as Captain of the Guard.

As for Aza, he prayed that his father would be lenient. The elf prince didn't know what he would do if Aza was no longer welcome in Mirkwood.

How could he choose between his beloved and his home?


	10. Chapter Ten: Choices

"Oh, this is disgusting," Aza voiced her feelings to her friends as they picked their way over the corpses of dead orcs and the puddles of blood. "Truly disgusting." The young woman held the edge of her robe in her hands in order to keep them from getting bloody. She felt ridiculous as she tried to maneuver through the blood and body parts without getting her clothes dirty.

Tauriel, with her elvish grace, glided over the orc remains with ease. She looked like a dancer as she moved over the rocks. Aza envied her friend slightly; she knew that part of why her friend moved easily was due to the fact that, while Aza was wearing a robe that dragged on the ground, Tauriel was wearing leggings and a tunic. However, the female elf stopped suddenly.

"Taur-."

She turned quickly, nocking an arrow as she did so. Tauriel aimed the arrow at something behind Aza.

Aza turned, gripping her staff tightly. As soon as she saw who it was, she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

"Ingannen le Orch." [**I thought you were an Orc.**]

Legolas stepped forward, "Cí Orch im, dangen le." **[If I were an Orc, you would be dead.]** His bow was drawn, an arrow ready to fly.

Both of the elves lowered their arrows.

Aza inched her way back to Tauriel, but her attempts at subtlety were in vain.

"Azriela," he moved to her.

She froze, knowing she had been spotted.

Legolas grabbed her arm, "We are going back."

"No."

"Aza-."

"I said no," Aza pulled her arm from him. "Whether you like it or not, I have a responsibility to my friends. They need my help."

He interrupted her and managed to grab her arm again, "Aza, you cannot-."

"You're not listening!" She pulled from him again, this time making sure to take several steps away. "Every time I speak, I feel as though you are not listening to me. I told you before that I wanted to put this off, but you didn't listen. I told you that I have responsibilities that have to be taken care of. I even told you that Fili was my friend and yet you still thought that I had feelings, other that friendship, for him."

Legolas moved to her again, his hand outstretched, "Aza-."

But Aza recoiled from his touch. "If you loved me, you'd respect me." She seemed so small. Her hands were bundled together, her head down. "This quest, it's important to me. I have to see it through." Her voice began to waver. "But you can't seem to see that." Her eyes started to fill with tears. Suddenly she loosened from her ball; only reveal her ring in the palm of her hand.

Legolas felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized what she was going, "Aza, don't-." He took a step back as she tried to hand it to him.

"Legolas," she sighed and, instead of handing him his ring, she leaned over and placed the ring on the stony ground. When she straightened she said, "I love you and I would like to believe you love me in return. In fact I do believe you love me, but you're not ready." Turning on her heel she called to her friend, "We have to hurry before the poison takes its full hold on him, if it does then there is nothing I can do for him."

Tauriel gave Legolas as sad look, but followed her friend. Her wish to help Kili was far greater than her wish to return home. And only Aza could help Kili now. So with Aza she would go, even if it meant leaving her prince and home behind.

As he watched them go, Legolas felt heartbreak take hold of him. If he had to live without his green lady, then he would gladly succumb to sorrow. He only wished that death would be swift. Once the two women were out of sight, he fell to his hands and knees. The pain of her rejection hurt to the point where it became physical pain.

She was gone. She would never return to him.

He reached out and picked up the ring Aza had left on the ground. It sparkled in the sunlight. For the briefest of moments, he felt the strongest urge to throw it far away from him. But he didn't. Instead he closed his hand around the shiny pit of metal.

The handsome elf's blue eyes squeezed shut as another wave of emotional pain hit him.

Once it passed, he opened his eyes.

It was the tracks on the ground that broke him from his inner turmoil. Orc tracks. He studied them, he stood and followed them. Aza and Tauriel were headed in their direction.

Aza was going to be in danger. Though it was true that Tauriel could defend herself, Aza was not. The red-headed female elf could not defend herself and watch over the green lady as well. Images of the worst kind came to mind. Aza was following orcs, and she was not able to fight.

This was it. A chance. A chance to prove himself to Aza and to win back the heart of the woman he loved. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. He ran after them, being careful not to be seen until he was needed.

Once Aza saw how deep, how true, how unbreakable his love was for her, she would return him. And when she did, he would cherish her all the more.

He could see their life together now. Aza, all dressed in white, walking to him as flower petals flew through the air. Her, pregnant with his child, smiling and laughing. Then, when their child was old enough to rule Mirkwood, he and she would leave for the Undying Lands together.

He could see it all, their future, and it was beautiful and bright.

Once he found her, he vowed, he would never let her go again.


	11. Chapter Eleven: I See Fire

"Where are they?" Tauriel asked as they ran.

Aza had never been more befuddled. There was hardly any vegetation to be seen and those that were there were in a sickly condition or stubborn from their years of trying to survive in this harsh environment. **_"Please," _**she begged,**_ "Please help us."_**

In the end it was a small, yellow flower that called back. Its voice, in her head, was small and wispy like a whisper.**_ "In a house…the short breather is withering."_** An image of what they were looking for came to Aza.

"Thank you," Aza said aloud.

"Find them?"

She nodded, "This way!" Aza made a sharp turn and looked up only to see the most horrid of creatures.

Tauriel nocked an arrow and shot one in the head.

They burst into the house, Tauriel stabbing one in the throat as she did so.

Aza backed away and tried to fend herself off with her staff.

An arm grabbed her around the middle, moved her aside, and the orc was down. The arm tightened around her and Aza looked up into the bluest of blue eyes. "Legolas…" she breathed.

"I will always come for you," he whispered into her ear in, what he must have thought was a romantic gesture, but actually came across quite odd.

Legolas moved her out of the way and stabbed another orc in the chest. He moved to dispatch the rest. Aza and Tauriel moved to the writhing Kili.

They were gone. Legolas came back inside, "There are others. Tauriel, come."

Aza knelt before Kili, examining him.

"We're losing him!" Oin cried.

Tauriel looked from Kili to Legolas.

"Tauriel," Legolast called.

She looked back to Kili and she was lost. Legolas left, but not before giving a look of longing to Aza. "Thank you," Aza whispered, but knew he could hear it.

He gave her a small smile and left.

"Aza, what do we do?" Fili asked.

Kili let out a scream of pain.

"Move. Let me see him," Aza examined his leg. She dug about in her bag, searching for the right herb. "It's not here. I don't have it!" she began to panic.

Bofur burst in, "I found it!" In his hand he held a strange looking flower.

"Athelas," Aza ran forward and snatched it from him. She moved to Kili. "Fili," she turn her head to him, "I'll need you to steady me."

"What are you doing?" Fili asked giving Tauriel a distrusting look as the elf moved to his brother's side.

Tauriel stopped her, "You aren't-."

"It's the only way," Aza interrupted her, "He's too far gone for anything less." Aza placed the herb on Kili's wound and began to focus all of her energy.

"What can I do?" Tauriel asked.

Aza bit her lip, "Hold his hand."

As soon as she said those words her head snapped back, she began to make odd gagging noises in the back of her throat. Her body was ridged, but began to tip. Fili held her fast.

"Aza!" Fili called. He turned to Tauriel, who was currently holding Kili's hand. "What is she doing?" She looked as though she were dying. The noises she made soon stopped, however, but she still could not move as she healed Kili.

"She's pushing part of her life force into the root," Tauriel answered. "It will make the root stronger and more effective."

Oin approached the young woman, who was starting to sweat with the effort she was putting into it, "I've heard tales of those who can do such things. This is a privilege to witness."

As Aza's magic worked, Kili's pain lessened and very soon he stopped writhing in pain. The dark haired dwarf's eyes opened slightly and he looked up, "Tauriel." He moved to touch her face, his hand outstretched as though he were reaching for heaven.

"Lie still," the elf woman said gently, taking his hand and placing it back on his chest.

"You cannot be her. She is far away. Sh- She is far, far away from me, and she walks in starlight in another world. It was just a dream," his voice was weak and loose, as though he were in a dream like state. He wove his fingers together with hers, "Do you think she could have loved me?" Kili looked down at their hands intertwined.

Tauriel opened her mouth, but before she could say anything she was cut off by Aza's head snapping back, as though she had been shocked. Her eyes widened almost impossibly wide. And she let out a death inspiring scream.

* * *

As Aza focused her energy into the herbs, she placed on Kili's sound. As soon as she fell into line, she felt her body melt away. Her essence, what made her herself, flew into the air. She looked down on the writhing Kili, the loving Tauriel, and the eager dwarves. Fili held her still and empty body like it was made of the finest crystal glass.

She looked around and began to float away. Through the rooftop, through the city.

It was dark and gritty.

**_"Legolas…"_** she whispered as she past him. He was fighting off a group of orcs. She felt her heart go out to him. She hated how she had hurt him and wished she could take it back. But she doubted that he would ever take her back. And even if he did, there was still something wrong with their romance.

Something having to do with respect.

He loved her and seemed to respect her more than most, but there was still something wrong. Like a child who is obviously missing some key character traits. She still loved him, but he wasn't ready to truly love her.

She floated past him and up into the cool night air. Of course she could not feel heat or cold in this form, but she could tell from the heat emanating off of other things.

Through the air she went closer and closer toward the Misty Mountains.

"I am fire! I am death!" a voice shook the air.

She looked up to see the terrifying and glorious figure of Smaug the terrible dragon. All of creation seemed to shake along with her as she was violently thrust back through the air, through the town and through the walls of the house, back to her body.

With a blood curdling scream she shouted, "He is coming!"


End file.
